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Berezkin/Duvakin Catalogue of Motifs
English translation, enhancements and additional metadata by Jonathan Fielder-White
Source: Berezkin and Duvakin's Analytical Catalogue · Original catalogue (Russian)
About the catalogue and its sources
Unless otherwise stated, narrative and tradition data comes from Berezkin and Duvakin's Thematic classification and distribution of folklore and mythological motifs by area (Analytical catalogue).
Original Berezkin/Duvakin catalogue (Russian)
The English translation uses AI assistance alongside manual verification. Errors may occur; consult the original source when in doubt.
K - Adventures: Acts of heroes
| Ref | Title | Summary | Traditions ▲ | Narratives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K74a In K74 family | Only the hero defeats the demon and follows in his footsteps. | A demonic character arrives and mocks one of the men remaining in the house. When the hero remains, he defeats the demon and follows in his footsteps to where he dwells. Cf. motif K74 (an unassuming and weak-looking man approaches a warrior preparing dinner; he eats everything, ties up, beats or kills the cook. When the hero remains to cook, he defeats the demon). | 80 | 56 |
| K100 | The Faithful Servant, ATU 516. | A person learns about the dangers threatening another (and usually that by warning his friend/master, he will turn to stone). The person eliminates the dangers, despite the fact that his behaviour upsets the person he has saved. | 82 | 114 |
| k32n In k32 family | The false wife - a supernatural character. | The false wife, who replaces the real one, is a supernatural character - a zoomorphic creature, a deceased woman, a female spirit, etc. See motif K32. | 82 | 58 |
| K64 | Escape from the cave of the herd owner, ATU 1137, K521.1, K603. | Finding himself in the dwelling of the master of the herds or the owner of wild animals, the character fears that the master will kill him. To escape to freedom, he clings to the underside of one of the animals leaving the pen or cave. | 82 | 148 |
| K66c In K66 family | Bear marriage. | A bear (lion) takes a woman away, or a she-bear takes a man away. They have children who are either human or bear-like in appearance. Less commonly, a woman gives birth to a son in a den because she was pregnant at the time of her abduction by the bear. | 82 | 115 |
| K33g In K33 family | Two kinds of fruit, ATU 566. | The person who eats the fruit (leaf, etc.) grows horns (long nose, etc.) or turns into an animal, while the other fruit (leaf, etc.) returns to its normal appearance. | 83 | 113 |
| K93b2 In K93 family | Conception from an eaten fruit. | A childless woman conceives a child after eating a fruit (usually an apple; in northern traditions also cabbage, eggs, peas, etc., in India – mangoes). | 83 | 124 |
| K119a In K119 family | The Ungrateful Master. | An animal saves a human, does him a favour, and he humiliates or kills it. See motifs K119, M161. | 84 | 113 |
| K135 | Seven with one blow, ATU 1640. | By accidentally defeating powerful opponents, a physically weak and timid person gains honour. | 84 | 98 |
| K35a In K35 family | The hero brands his rivals, ATU 530A. | In exchange for improving his current situation, the character agrees to have his body injured or branded. | 84 | 133 |
| K27x5 In K27 family | Helpers of different ages. | When setting out in search of a woman or miraculous objects, a person consistently encounters characters of a non-human (often demonic) nature who help him. The characters are similar, but usually each subsequent one is older (younger) than the other. | 85 | 146 |
| K33d In K33 family | Donkey Skin, ATU 510B. | A man discovers that a beautiful girl is hiding under the guise of an ugly hag or under the skin of an animal. | 87 | 107 |
| K60b In K60 family | Invitation to the Coffin, ATU 330B, G514.1. | The character is invited to find out whether the box or pit is the right size for him, whether he can crawl through the opening, climb into the bag, etc., after which he is locked in a coffin, box, barrel, buried, etc. Cf. motif M56D. | 87 | 136 |
| K80a In K80 family | A bird or object tells of a crime, ATU 720, 780, 780B. | An object or creature that has emerged from the remains, jewellery, etc. of the murdered person tells about the murder, exposing the criminal. The East Slavic texts in this section were mainly provided by K.Y. Rakhno. | 87 | 194 |
| K27nn In K27 family | The Envious Vizier. | Someone from the entourage of a powerful figure seeks to destroy the hero and persuades others to give him difficult tasks. | 88 | 178 |
| K79 | The snake shows how to recover. | Finding himself in a helpless situation, a man sees how a small animal finds a cure for itself or another animal. The man uses the same cure, saves himself or saves another. | 88 | 101 |
| K1e In K1 family | Abandoned on an island, K1616. | The character is abandoned on an island or on the other side of a river or sea. See motif K1A. | 89 | 64 |
| K131 | Three Wonderful Objects, ATU 518. | Certain characters argue over the possession of magical objects, but the objects go to the hero. Usually, he suggests that the disputants race each other or asks them to let him try out the objects, after which he hides, taking the objects with him. | 94 | 142 |
| K38d In K38 family | The serpent covers the water. | A powerful and dangerous character prevents others from using water (or causes floods), but in most cases allows them to take water (promises not to cause floods) in exchange for people or valuables {italicised in the list of traditions}. | 94 | 165 |
| K93 | Twins and a woman, ATU 303. | After a series of adventures and victories, the hero finds himself in trouble. His twin or brother follows in his footsteps, meets the same characters, but when he encounters the final enemy, he defeats him and revives (frees) the hero. | 94 | 107 |
| K30 | The flying enemy carries off the woman. | A flying creature carries a woman away. The kidnapper is killed and/or the woman escapes from him. See also motif L102A (Escape from a seagull husband). | 95 | 142 |
| K38b In K38 family | The serpent threatens the chicks, B364.4. | A snake or monster of aquatic-chthonic or indeterminate nature eats or maims the young of a bird or other flying creature – in most cases, the chicks of a huge bird. A man kills the snake (monster). See motif K38. | 95 | 132 |
| K32g In K32 family | Torn apart by horses. | The antagonist is executed by being tied to a horse (camel, bull), which drags him along the ground or tears him to pieces. | 96 | 242 |
| K4 | Nest destroyer. | The character climbs a tree or rock to get a bird, bird eggs, or chicks, climbs into a bird's nest, comes into conflict with another character, and/or cannot climb down. See motifs K1, K2A. Traditions in which the nest destroyer is a woman are highlighted in italics; bold italics indicate those in which the character falls into the trap not through the fault of another person, but by accident, or, having climbed up to destroy the nest, does not fall into the trap at all, although he quarrels with his companion; an asterisk* marks those in which the character remains in the trap (undergoes a metamorphosis). | 96 | 53 |
| K67b In K67 family | Agreement not to be angry, ATU 1000. | A character of low social status (without supernatural abilities) takes a job with a character of high social status (with supernatural abilities) on the condition that the employer will not get angry with the employee. By repeatedly annoying the employer, the employee causes him to become angry and, as a result, be severely punished or pay a large sum of money. | 97 | 117 |
| K47a In K47 family | Woman and dog: the origin of humans. | A woman mates with a dog. Her children grow up to be humans and usually become the ancestors of certain ethnic groups. | 98 | 165 |
| K77a In K77 family | Verlioka, ATU 210. | Various objects and animals (rarely: only animals, but including those that are safe in reality) defeat a strong enemy (usually joining the hero who is going to take revenge on the strong enemy for an insult and hiding in the house where the enemy is supposed to appear), attacking him in turn; he dies or flees. Either someone or the attacked character himself places objects in his dwelling that then harm that character. | 99 | 135 |
| K36 | Turned into an animal, (ATU 449). | The hero (heroine) is temporarily transformed into an animal (usually a dog/coyote or a donkey, with the face of the former]: 151-152t to the ground; and the strength of 99 men; if she had taken the hundredth, she would have remained a woman; if the young man had ground, a horse). When he or she is helped to regain their former appearance, the antagonist is transformed into an animal. In some texts, either only the hero or only the antagonist undergoes metamorphosis. Cf. motifs K62B, J62b1 (the character transforms many people into animals). | 100 | 150 |
| K2 | The discarded ladder. | The hero climbs or descends a ladder, rope, pole, etc. The rope, etc. breaks or is cut. Usually, another character deliberately throws away the ladder, cuts the rope, or breaks off the lower branches of the tree, making return impossible. See motif K1A. {Statistical calculations for this motif also include all texts from motif K2A, except for Koreans}. | 102 | 67 |
| K81 | Bezruchka, ATU 706. | For a minor offence or on false charges, a young woman is maimed and expelled from her home (rarely: she is killed or maims herself). The cripple miraculously recovers (the dead woman is resurrected). | 103 | 126 |
| K118 | The forbidden room, C611. | Upon leaving, the character allows another to take charge of the house, but not to look into a certain room or container. The other violates the prohibition. | 105 | 202 |
| K25a1 In K25 family | Found clothing. | A magical wife leaves her earthly husband when she finds her clothes, which he has hidden (often feathers, if she is a bird woman), persuades him to give them back, makes new ones or receives them from her relatives. (The variant in which the wife leaves her husband because she is offended is not entirely alternative, but in most texts it does not fit with the motif of found clothing). | 106 | 212 |
| K80 | The indestructible woman. | The character transforms into objects or creatures, which another character systematically destroys. However, the character (usually a young woman) is reborn each time in a new form and eventually in her original form. | 106 | 174 |
| K39 | Feeding the Simurgh bird, B322.1. | The character must feed a powerful creature by regularly throwing it pieces of meat. When the prepared meat runs out, he cuts off the last piece from his own flesh. See motif K38 (the bird carries the hero where he needs to go; on the way, he throws pieces of prepared meat into its beak; when the supplies run out, he gives the bird a piece of his own flesh). | 107 | 142 |
| K102a2 In K102 family | Conflict between son and mother. | The mother seeks to destroy her son (children) because he interferes with her love affair. Cf. motif L86: Children flee from their demon mother. | 111 | 165 |
| K83 | Sick Father, ATU 550, 551. | To heal, rejuvenate or save one's father, father-in-law or sister, one must bring medicine (bring a doctor) from a distant country. The medicine is brought and the sick person recovers. | 111 | 146 |
| K107 | The Returned Husband, ATU 425A, 425B, 425D, 425E, 432. | A magical husband leaves his wife. She finds and returns him. | 112 | 217 |
| K27x3 In K27 family | The king and the hero's wife, ATU 465. | The ruler seeks to take possession of the wife or bride of a man of lower social status and, in order to get rid of him, gives him impossible tasks or secretly kills him. {Both ATU and some regional indexes (e.g., Cardigos 2006: 110) list texts that do not meet the definition of plot 465: the king's desire to take possession of the hero's wife is not explicitly stated as the reason why the king seeks to get rid of the hero}. | 113 | 152 |
| K94 | The bird of happiness (eaten head), ATU 567, 567A. | Those who eat a miraculous bird, fish, animal or fruit gain wealth and power. | 113 | 128 |
| K27f In K27 family | To obtain a woman. | An authoritative character demands that the hero obtain a woman. | 115 | 179 |
| K57 | Cinderella, ATU 510A. | A girl hides her beauty and/or lives in poverty, a man of high status sees her in her true form/in luxurious attire and takes her as his wife, recognising her by an item he gave her or she lost, usually a slipper or shoe, or by seeing her change her clothes. {All texts with this motif are also considered to contain the f62 motif}. | 116 | 230 |
| K88 | Two Travellers (Truth and Falsehood), ATU 613. | Two people set off on a journey or argue about which is stronger: truth or falsehood (stinginess or generosity, etc.). The evil one abandons the good one, crippling or robbing him, but the good one regains his health and achieves success. The villain usually perishes. | 117 | 141 |
| K103 | The cow as helper, ATU 511. | A domestic animal (horse, cow, bull, goat, ram, sheep) helps an orphan, a lonely child, or an unfortunate young woman. | 118 | 164 |
| K18 | Recognition of father or mother, H481, ATU 675. | A boy is born whose father (rarely mother) is unknown. He chooses his true father (mother), who usually occupies the lowest social position. Usually, a group of men or women gather together, each of whom wants the boy to choose him or her. | 118 | 167 |
| K33h In K33 family | Cat, dog and magical object, ATU 560. | A person finds a magical object that grants any wish. This object is stolen. It is returned by animals (which the hero had previously saved). | 119 | 159 |
| K38 | The hero helps the chicks, B364.4. | For doing good to chicks (rarely: young of non-ornithomorphic flying creatures), their mother or father does a favour for the person. | 119 | 254 |
| K119 | Animal marries a princess, ATU 545B. | An animal promises to make a poor man rich (usually by marrying him to a rich bride; or by marrying a poor girl to a prince) and, resorting to deception, fulfils its promise. | 120 | 152 |
| K14 | Dear advice, ATU 677, 910A, 910B. | A person receives or buys simple advice, the meaning of which is initially unclear (travel with a companion, do not skip breakfast, etc.) and either follows it, achieving success, or violates it, getting into trouble. | 121 | 166 |
| K72 | Three maidens. | A character of high status meets or marries three (less often two or four) women. One (promises to bear and) bears him a son (children) with unusual qualities, the other two (promise to engage in and) engage in crafts or housekeeping, or intend to marry men of lower status. | 121 | 198 |
| K102 | The hero's woman helps his enemy, ATU 315 (sister), 590 (mother). | A woman who is initially friendly to the hero (his sister, mother, less often his wife or lover) then tries to destroy him by acting in concert with his enemy. To this end, she persuades the hero to take actions that are fatal to him. | 124 | 202 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.